Contact

Biography

John Hoberman is a social and cultural historian who has researched and published extensively in the fields of sports studies, race studies, human enhancements, medical history, and globalization studies. His work in sports studies encompasses race relations, politics and the Olympics, and performance-enhancing drug use. His interests in medical history include the social and medical impacts of androgenic drugs (anabolic steroids) and the history of medical racism in the United States. He has lectured at many medical schools and other medical institutions on this topic.

Prof. Hoberman is the author of Sport and Political Ideology (1984), The Olympic Crisis: Sport, Politics, and the Moral Order (1986), Mortal Engines: The Science of Performance and the Dehumanization of Sport (1992), Darwin’s Athletes: How Sport Has Damaged Black America and Preserved the Myth of Race (1997), Testosterone Dreams: Rejuvenation, Aphrodisia, Doping ((2005), Black & Blue: The Origins and Consequences of Medical Racism (2012), and Age of Globalization, the text of a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) broadcast on the edX global platform during 2013 and 2014 and published online by the University of Texas Press in January 2014.

Prof. Hoberman has also published widely for general audiences. His articles have appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, The Nation, The Wilson Quarterly, Society, Scientific American, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The National (Canada), and Der Spiegel (Germany). Interviews with Prof. Hoberman have appeared in Norwegian, Swedish, French and German publications. Interviews on media outlets include all of the national networks: PBS, ABC. NBC, CBS, FOX, ABC (Australia), CBC (Canada), and BBC (UK).

Interests

European cultural and intellectual history with special interests in Sportwissenschaft and the history of ideas about race

45. Michelle D. Holmes, David Hodges, John Rich, “Racial Inequalities in the Use of Procedures for Ischemic Heart Disease,” Journal of the American Medical Association (June 9, 1989): 3242-3243. [464.] [Blackboard]

10. H. Jack Geiger, “Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Diagnosis and Treatment: A Review of the Evidence and a Consideration of Causes,” in Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Healthcare (Washington, D.C.: The National Academies Press, 2003): 417-454. [PDF] [522.1515A]

27. Brenda L. Beagan, “Teaching Social and Cultural Awareness to Medical Students: “It’s All Very Nice to Talk about It in Theory, But Ultimately It Makes No Difference’,” Academic Medicine 78 (June 2003): 605-614. [647.2]

25. Winthrop D. Jordan, "First Impressions: Initial English Confrontation with Africans," in The White Man's Burden: Historical Origins of Racism in the United States (1974): 3-25.

26. Jean Comaroff, "The Diseased Heart of Africa: Medicine, Colonialism, and the Black Body," in Shirley Lindenbaum and Margaret Lock, eds. Knowledge, Power, and Practice: The Anthropology of Medicine and Everyday Life (1993): 305-329.

31. Todd L. Savitt, “The Use of Blacks for Medical Experimentation in the Old South,” Journal of Southern History (1982): 331-348.

32. Walter Fisher, "Physicians and Slavery in the Antebellum Southern Medical Journal," in August Meier & Elliott Rudwick, eds. The Making of Black America: Essays in Negro Life & History (1969): 153-164.

106. Lynette Clemetson, "Links Between Prison and AIDS Affecting Blacks Inside and Out," New York Times (August 6, 2004).

107. Linda Villarosa, "Patients With H.I.V. Seen as Separated By a Racial Divide," New York Times (August 7, 2004).

108. Sheryl Thorburn Bird and Laura M. Bogart, "Conspiracy Beliefs About HIV/AIDS and Birth Control Among African Americans: Implications for the Prevention of HIV, Other STIs, and Unintended Pregnancy," Journal of Social Issues 61 (2005): 109-126.

115. James H. Carter, "Frequent Mistakes Made with Black Patients in Psychotherapy," Journal of the National Medical Association 71 (1979): 1007-1009.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

(1) Attendance and active participation: Class attendance is mandatory. You will be asked to sign in at the beginning of each class. Unsatisfactory attendance unsupported by medical documentation will preclude a student’s receiving a grade higher than C. Active participation means being involved in discussions and discussion groups, being curious and asking in the event you don’t understand something, questioning statements and findings if you disagree, and defending your own findings and opinions, according to your own capacity to perform in a group. It also means doing your homework regularly (being prepared for class).

(2) Each of you will have to present ‘minutes’ of one previous session, in oral and written form. Minutes consist of a resume of the session’s content (incl. readings), how it relates to the overall topic of the course, and of the main results of the discussions. You will also add one or two examples from latest ‘news from Europe’ as presented in media such as the New York Times, Google-news or other media sources, and you will comment shortly on them. The oral presentation consists of a 5 min segment, on which you will prepare a written paper of 2 pages in length to hand in on the day of your presentation.

(3) You will be assigned two 4-page papers and a final paper of 8-10 pages. I will suggest topics and approve topics of your choosing. These papers are due on February 18, March 25, and April 27, respectively. The instructor reserves the right to assign additional short writing assignments, such as short “minutes” of a previous class meeting.

(5) For each class, please bring a hard copy of the respective course readings.

(6) I will be happy to discuss writing issues with you. The Writing Centre offers support and help for student writing and research: http://uwc.utexas.edu.

Additional Information / Rules of Conduct

CLASS AND CLASSROOMS:Cell phones must be turned off in class; computers may be used only for note-taking. If a student uses electronic devices for non-class related activities and creates a disturbance s/he will be asked to leave for the remainder of that class.

ACADEMIC ASSISTANCEAcademic Assistance is provided by the UT Learning Center, in Jester Center, Room A332A. It offers help with college-level writing, reading, and learning strategies. It is free to all currently enrolled students. See: <http://www.lib.utexas.edu/services/assistive/policy.html> for requesting help you need in using the main library (PCL) or the Fine Arts Library (for films).

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIESThe University of Austin provides upon request appropriate academic accommodations for qualified students with disabilities. For more information, contact the Office of the Dean of Students at 471-6259, 471-6441 TTY. Any student with a documented disability who requires academic accommodations should contact the Service for Students with Disabilities as soon as possible to request an official letter outlining authorized accommodations. These letters must be given to your TAs to receive accommodations. See: <http://www.utexas.edu/diversity/ddce/ssd/index.php>.

SYLLABUS AND ASSIGNMENTS:All requirements have been given to you in writing, in the package including this sheet. If you don't read it and miss something, it's your problem. NO LATE WORK ACCEPTED; the conditions for making up work for medical and other leaves are listed in the next section.

RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS AND OTHER ABSENCES• Students can make up work missed because of a religious holiday as long as they provide the instructor with documentation at least one week before the holiday occurs. • The same applies to official university obligations like Club or Varsity sports.• Documentation from a physician is required for medical absence; arrangements for work to be made up must be made promptly, and in no case should the work be completed more than 2 weeks after the absence. • Other absences (e.g. family events) must be arranged for at least TWO WEEKS IN ADVANCE and missed work must be turned in at the NEXT CLASS SESSION upon return.

CHEATING AND PLAGIARISMCheating and other forms of scholastic dishonesty, including plagiarism, will be reported to the Dean of Students. Cheating on tests or plagiarism on papers is an F for the assignment, with no makeup possible. If you engage in any form of scholastic dishonesty more than once, you will receive an automatic F for the course. If you are unsure about the exact definition of scholastic dishonesty, you should consult the information about academic integrity produced by the Dean of Students Office: <http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sjs/acint_student.php>.Plagiarism means using words or ideas that are not your own without citing your sources and without indicating explicitly what you have taken from those sources. If you are unsure about what constitutes plagiarism, consult: <http://www.lib.utexas.edu/services/instruction/learningmodules/plagiarism/>What does "citing your sources" mean? It means providing appropriate footnotes and bibliographic entries. See <http://www.lib.utexas.edu/services/instruction/learningmodules/citations/>. To make correct citations, researchers often use bibliographic software like UT's "Noodlebib" <http://www.lib.utexas.edu/noodlebib/> or Zotero <http://www.zotero.com.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON PLAGIARISM: The Student Judicial Services Website provides official definitions of plagiarism and cheating:• Definitions of plagiarism and other forms of scholastic dishonesty, based on Section 11-802d of UT’s Institutional Rules on Student Services and Activities: http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sjs/scholdis_plagiarism.php• The University’s Standard of Academic Integrity and Student Honor Code (from Chapter 11 of the University’s Institutional Rules on Student Services and Activities): http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sjs/acint_student.php• Consequences of scholastic dishonesty: http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sjs/scholdis_conseq.php• Types of scholastic dishonesty: unauthorized collaboration, plagiarism, and multiple submissions: http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sjs/scholdis_whatis.php